Happy New Year!

I hope 2009 brings you joy, love, and happiness! (and increased CST scores...)

Huh?

Today I spent the day at school trying to catch up on work. I've been procrastinating big time. Actually, I've been enjoying every second of this vacation. But, I think I'm ready to get back to work. There's so much to do and I really do miss the kids (the good ones). After work, I went to It's a Grind to get coffee, like I always do. The lady in front of me ordered water with no ice and a side of cream cheese. That's all. Water and cream cheese. Huh? Who goes to It's a Grind to buy water and cream cheese? I guess the lady in front of me does. Not to judge, but that was a bit strange.

Happy Christmas!

Happy Christmas to you!

Half Way Point

Well, we're at the half way point of our vacation. The time has flown by! I've accomplished a few tasks, but I still have tons to do. I've totally been procrastinating! I'll worry about getting stuff done next week! I've really enjoyed doing nothing. Some days, the highlight of my day is driving to Signal Hill to get coffee. That's the life! I've managed to see three movies. Four Christmases...loved it, didn't think I would. Milk...absolutely loved it! What a great movie. Sean Penn is amazing in the movie. Slumdog Millionaire...best movie I've seen in a long time. A few friends and I saw Kathy Griffin at the Kodak Theater. She is HILARIOUS! She could have talked a little less about Nancy Grace though. It was a great show and the Kodak is beautiful. I hope everyone is having a great vacation!

New Secretary of Education

Today, President-elect Obama nominated Arne Duncan to be the next Secretary of Education. I happened to catch the news conference on C-SPAN. I found it interesting that during the president-elect's opening remarks introducing Mr. Duncan and during the question/answer session, parent accountability was mentioned several times. The president-elect challenged parents to turn off the video games and read to their kids. He also said we needed to "change our culture to value educational achievement." Wow! Who would have thought that a president-elect would be talking about holding parents accountable and valuing public education? I think it would be a good idea for President-elect Obama to call the California "governor" and "legislators" and encourage them to NOT cut school funding. From what I'm hearing of the budget proposals offered by both Democrats and Republicans, the proposals include major cuts to school funding. I think it's time for the state legislators to give up their per diems and car allowances. In fact, why do we need both an assembly and a state senate? Think of all the money we'd save if we got rid of one. I'm a fan of unicameral state government. I'm more of a fan of building and sustaining a culture of educational achievement.

Sunday Thoughts

First of all, I must congratulate Poly on their victory against Lakewood. It was a sad loss, but Poly definitely deserves the spot in the CIF final. Go Jackrabbits!

In the current issue of Time magazine, the cover story is about the D.C. schools' chancellor, Michelle Rhee. She is one of my favorite people in education. She's a no nonsense, no excuses, lets get the job done now kind of leader. I love that. She's definitely made a few enemies during her tenure in D.C. You have to respect the passion she has for making sure D.C. kids get a quality education. I think we can all learn a lesson or two from Chancellor Rhee's work. Check out the article.

Got Happiness?

There is an interesting story in the L.A. Times. Happiness is contagious, research finds. Not having to deal with discipline issues or the daily stress of school has sure made me quite happy! I'm totally enjoying these do nothing days. I'm enjoying doing nothing so much, that I haven't even looked at the trimester 1 data yet OR even started reading Twilight. I'll look at the data on Saturday. I'll probably start reading Twilight on Sunday. I guess I need to start looking at the data soon. There's a principals' meeting on Wednesday that I have to go to. We'll be dissecting all the trimester 1 data. I know, fun. You know you wish you were me.

Check out the article.

Go Lancers!

I used to be into football...before the Rams moved to St. Louis. Not so much now. As a proud Lakewood grad, I must show some school spirit. This Friday, Lakewood and Poly are playing for a spot in the CIF Finals. I'm sure Ruselle will be devastated if Poly loses. Good thing she'll have four more weeks to recover from the trauma. Go Lancers!

That's What I Love About Sundays

There's a great Craig Morgan song called, "That's What I Love About Sundays." In the song, Craig sings about all the wonderful things that happen on Sundays, like singing with the choir, wearing jeans, eating chicken and beans, playing football in the backyard, cutting out coupons, cat napping on the porch swing, taking a walk, etc...For me a great Sunday is NOT singing with the choir, but sleeping in, watching Meet the Press and drinking a whole pot of coffee. It was so nice to do that this Sunday! And I managed to squeeze a Target trip in too! I slept so much I woke up with a headache. That has not happened in a long time. I'm so looking forward to these next five weeks off. I'm looking forward to a few more sleep induced headaches. I'm disappointed there won't be intersession, but I'm glad that I have the time decompress. The first trimester has been very stressful. Very stressful. I have five weeks to try and figure out what to do to make sure the second and third trimesters aren't so stressful. Not sure if I'll be able to do that. I have so much school related work to do during this break. I'm definitely going to try to squeeze some fun in too...like seeing Kathy Griffin at the Kodak theater!!! I can't wait for that! And reading Twilight. Some of the fifth grade girls are starting a Twilight book club, so I want to read the book to see what the big deal is. I hope your Sunday is turning out to be something to sing about!

The Gift of Books

What better gift to give than a book? NPR has listed its book recommendations for holiday giving. Check it out.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cafeteria Cuteness

Huge shout out to our fantastic cafeteria crew...Cyd, Sandra, Francisca, and Madonna. These ladies are the BEST. They care about kids. Enough said. I can't tell you how much I enjoy my time guarding the milk in the cafeteria. Not only do I get to chat with our super cafeteria crew but I also get to hear concerns, complaints, and sometimes kudos from my constituents...the kids. I could write an entire book about all the stuff the kids tell me as they reach for their lowfat chocolate milk. I hear about who's on red, a cousin's birthday, who got yelled at, who said a bad word, who hit someone, who cut in line, who's going to Mexico, who just got back from Mexico, who passed a benchmark, who passed their math facts, who didn't do anything in class, and the list goes on and on. Lately the kids have been asking me how my day is going. I just love that. They also compliment me on my shirts...even though they're the same shirts I've worn once a week for the last four years. Too cute. Today Cyd fried up some chicken. She really didn't fry it up, the chicken came in a box from some far away land. I have to say it was pretty good. I tried to resist eating the chicken, but I just couldn't help myself. I've been eating like a real pig lately...oh well. The kids were so excited to have fried chicken for lunch. I'm talking jumping up and down excited. It was so cute to see their excitement. Don't you miss the days when a piece of fried chicken was enough to make you jump for joy? Me too.

SuperObama

Two Weeks Later...Again!

Wow, so much has happened over the last two weeks! Too bad I've forgotten about almost all of it. I should start writing stuff down...say on a blog or something...

Barack Obama is president-elect. I've been waiting for this for almost 21 months. I can't wait until January 20! I can't even describe how happy I was on election night. Pure euphoria. Hope has arrived!

I snuck in to school today to get a few things done that I wasn't able to finish yesterday. I noticed piles of black ash everywhere. If the ash wasn't black, I would have sworn it had just snowed. Surreal.

Eight days to go before break. I cannot wait. Discipline has been out of control. We've been suspending three/four kids a week...not good. Fighting, defiance, sexual harassment, bullying, assault...it's just plain scary. A lot of what's happening can be totally prevented. It's just a matter of supervision...keeping an eye out and being proactive. I'm just hoping we can get through the next 8 days in one piece. Keep all fingers crossed!

Two Weeks Later...

It's been so long since I've posted, I almost forgot my login password. So sad. Lots has happened over the last week. Most of it I've forgotten. So sad. I've been just too tired to post...and remember. I'm half asleep right now. So sad. I did have a productive day today. I managed to get everything ready for release day deux. I had a great collaborative session with the specialist team yesterday. What a talented group of people they are. We're so lucky to have their talents. I'm so excited about reading workshop and so hopeful that the 64% number will be reduced. We have no choice about it really. We have to restructure the way reading is being taught. Business as usual is not going to create more proficient readers...it's just not. I can't believe how hard it rained today.
As I was driving in the downpour, I actually saw people standing outside of buildings watching it rain. It has been a long time since we've had a good storm. You would have thought UFOs were overhead. It was kind of amusing. I'm easily amused. We're down to our last 17 days before the break. So glad. I'm ready for a break. I'm sad there will be no intersession for the kids who need it. So very sad and so very wrong. This budget nonsense is making me angry. The "governor" is talking about making mid-year cuts. What's left to cut? I guess we could replace our roll toilet paper with the square kind. **Taking a deep breath and focusing on other topics** Too bad the Dodgers lost. They also choke. It's been down hill since Bill Russell was fired. On the positive side, the Angels lost too. So not all is bad. I actually saw a movie last week. "W" Hated it! It was a rehash of stuff I already knew about him. I'm thinking about seeing "Beverly Hills Chihuahua"...NOT!!!! Only three more days until Skittles fall from the sky, rashes clear, hair grows back on bald heads, and the world comes together and starts singing like in that 70s Coke commercial. I can't wait. I've already voted. I'm a permanent absentee voter. There's no way I'm voting in someone's garage or living room...please.

Release Day Reflections

The last few weeks have been crazy, busy, stressful, and exciting! Today we finished up the last of our release days. I'm very excited about the ideas, conversations, and plans that resulted from the collaboration during the release days. I get so excited thinking about what will be...what needs to be. We must reduce that number of 64%. It's just not acceptable. It's also not reflective of the hard work that is happening. We must be more strategic in how we teach our kids to read. I know we all want our kids to get lost in their books. It will happen. I'm confident it will happen. We will make it happen! Yes, we can!

Mid Life Crisis?

I think I'm going through a mid life crisis. The signs, you ask? Well, lately I've been very nice to people...and...I bought a Blackberry. I totally DO NOT need a Blackberry. I probably DO need to be nice to people. I programmed the Blackberry so my verizon email AND groupwise email will go to it. So now I can check email anywhere, 24 hours a day! Woo hoo???? I'm not liking the calendar function of the Blackberry. NOT user friendly. I guess I'll just have to get over it and enjoy the round the clock checking of email.

From Education Leadership

September 2008 | Volume 66 | Number 1
The Positive Classroom

Conversations That Matter
Stephen Myers

Through intentional, structured conversations, this teacher creates and maintains trusting classroom relationships.

When it comes to creating a positive learning community, building trusting relationships is 90 percent of the job. Relationships are like breathing: They aren't the whole story, but without them, nothing else matters.

Authentic learning requires intellectual and emotional risk. But when students discover that meaningful learning entails discomfort, they may respond by resisting, either actively or passively. Many classroom-management problems are simply calculated distractions by students who want to avoid looking foolish or feeling powerless—to protect the status quo of an academically challenging classroom and thus maintain the illusion of safety. If we expect our students to break out of their terminal normality and achieve the extraordinary, we must implement a focused curriculum for generating relationships.

One way to create trusting two-way relationships is to use specific structures and set aside regular times to engage in intentional conversations. The following are three structures that I've used to model and practice such conversations in my 6th–12th grade English and social studies classes.

From day one when students enter my class on the first day, I ask them to answer three questions:

1. What hasn't worked for you in the past?

When I ask students to list what hasn't worked for them in past classrooms with other teachers and classmates, the result is often a delightful or rancorous gripe session. Listing these old complaints allows us to address and resolve past issues. If a student has a gripe with last year's teacher—for example, if he was falsely accused of cheating—he may lug that baggage into my classroom. By unburdening himself of this grievance, he can become a more proactive, forward-looking class participant. In addition, this discussion generates ideas for students to use when they answer the next two questions.

2. What have you come to this class for?

When I ask students what they are in this class for, they offer such responses as "to earn credits for graduation," "to get a good grade," "to learn," and "to write better." I list whatever students say without comment, including responses like "because I have to be here," "to have fun," and "I don't know." When the students run out of ideas, I ask them to clarify some of their answers, for example, "To write better than what?" "What is a good grade?" "If you did know what you are here for, what might it be?"

I also answer the question myself: "I'm here to earn my paycheck." "I'm here to teach English." "I'm here to have fun." "I'm here to make a difference, if I can, in your lives." "I'm here to grow and learn."

Then I point out that no one answered the question by saying, "I'm here to fail." This observation leads to the third question.

3. What conditions are necessary for you to get what you came for?

Since we (note the shift to first-person plural) all came to succeed in something, what are the conditions necessary for us to get what we came for? I start by asking students what they want from me. Their answers often include "Be fair," "Don't give busy work," "Make it fun," "Do group work," and "Explain things well." Next, I ask students what they want from one another. Typical responses include "respect," "cooperation," "listen to each other," and "no put downs."

Then, I ask them what conditions they must individually create. They usually reply, "coming prepared," "arriving on time," "showing respect for others," and so on. Next, of course, I add my input under each category. Students seldom list "taking risks" as a condition for success, so I add that to the list and explain why. The same goes for "trusting me and one another," "participating fully," and "being willing to learn from mistakes and failure." After listing all the responses, I ask students to word each item in terms of what they do want, rather than what they don't want. Thus, "Don't give busy work" becomes "Give meaningful work." "No put downs" becomes "Talk to one another respectfully." Then I ask them to identify any item they are unwilling to support. I do the same. We work on the wording of each item until everyone reaches agreement.

This list becomes our Conditions for Success chart, which provides the foundation for relationships in the classroom. We all sign the chart and post it for future reference—and there are always plenty of occasions for that.

Envisioning Possibilities
Knowing that the voice of fear, the ultimate saboteur, lies in wait to destroy my fine, progressive work, I follow up on this activity by showing students how to develop a powerful alternative: the voice of possibility. I ask, "If we consistently uphold these Conditions for Success, what might be possible?" I sometimes need to start students off by reframing the question: "Can you imagine what this class might be like if you came here every day feeling safe, excited, and interested?" or "If everyone in here treated one another with kindness, understanding, and generosity, what kind of learning might occur?" Out of the conversation about possibility, we generate passion, enthusiasm, and a strong commitment to build trusting, compassionate relationships.

Like any fine-tuned stringed instrument, relationships easily slip out of tune. Thus, I immediately begin a program of preventive maintenance.

Throughout the Year
Of all the activities I do, the perspective check has the most powerful effects. The purpose of the perspective check, which can be conducted weekly or bimonthly, is to have both the students and the teacher maintain honest, forgiving, and respectful relationships.

I devote 30 minutes to this process each Friday. We push the desks aside and sit in a circle. To introduce the activity the first time, I tell the students that we are going to have a structured conversation that will help us know one another better. This conversation will also help them feel safer in the classroom so they will feel more comfortable being themselves and trying out new ideas.

"You may wonder what this has to do with English (or social sciences)," I continue. "We are in this class together, as a community, and only if we have healthy relationships with one another can I be a good teacher and can you succeed as students. So, let's try this for a couple of weeks and then we'll see if you want to continue."

Each perspective check includes the first and last category on the following list and some or all of the others:

Excitement. What are you excited about?
Amazements. What amazes you?
Inspirations. Who inspires you?
Concerns. What are you concerned, worried, stressed about? (No one comments on a student's concern unless the student asks for advice.)
Apologies. To whom in this room do you owe an apology, and for what?
Resentments, irritations, and requests: Who in this room do you resent or feel irritated with? For what? And what request do you have of this person? The intent of this category is to allow students to work through negative feelings safely. Students must own their own feelings, so "You make me feel …" needs to be replaced with "When you (state the behavior), I feel (one word describing emotions)." Example: When you interrupt me, I feel angry. I request that you wait until I finish talking. The facilitator must make sure that students are not attacked or judged. After the request, ask whether the student agrees. A reply of "No" must be acceptable.
Gratitudes: For what or to whom are you grateful?
Questions: What question do you have for anyone in the room? (The person may choose not to answer the question.)
Appreciations and acknowledgments: Who in this room do you appreciate, admire or respect, and for what? (Always end the Perspective Check with this category.)

Other possible categories include, What are you proud of? What do you want advice about, and from whom? What opportunity did you take advantage of or miss? What risk did you take this week, and what value did it have? What did you fail at this week, and what did you learn? When are you happiest?

As the discussion facilitator, I begin with the first category (always something positive). Students who want a turn to talk raise their hands and are give a number. They talk only when their number is called. Students are not allowed to make any comments about what others say or to have private conversations with the people around them.

Perspective checks take practice. Your students are likely to greet the first one with silence and strange looks. Don't allow sarcasm, jokes, or comments. Don't force anyone to participate.

After I conduct the first two perspective checks, I always ask the students whether they want to continue next week. Don't worry: If you have followed the guidelines, students will want more. Eventually, they will expect and then demand this activity.

Perspective checks enable students to know their teacher and one another as human beings, making it safer for students to take risks and express themselves. I've seen difficult classes evolve into healthy communities as a result of this one activity. One new science teacher who had been put on probation for lack of control in his class reported that after six weeks of doing perspective checks every Friday, discipline problems vanished.

As I mentioned before, relationships can disappear in an instant. In the world of adolescents, a word, a look, or a gesture can be misinterpreted. Because young people generally view themselves as the center of the universe, they take everything personally. Thus, breakdowns are guaranteed.

Resolving Breakdowns and Restoring Trust
When a problem shows up, welcome it as an opportunity. Our most profound learning can occur through mistakes or failure. The teacher's response is crucial.

"The first opportunity in every breakdown," I tell the class, "is choosing the path to take to resolve it. You can take the scenic path, or you can take the psycho path. On the psycho path we lay blame, engage in drama, and often give up. The psycho path leads to more problems, hurt feelings, and loss of opportunity." I invite them to join me on the scenic path. Before attempting to solve the problem, I ask students to acknowledge what has been working and to recognize the progress they've made so far. In any relationship, when a breakdown occurs, speaking positively by recognizing someone's accomplishments makes it easier to forgive that person's faults.

We start by acknowledging and describing the problem. What (not who) is not working? Which of our Conditions for Success did we forget about? For example, when two boys of different races argued over one interrupting the other—an argument that escalated to chest bumping and racial epithets, rather than engaging in a debate about blame, we followed the following protocol for a conversation:

Without drama, I ask students to talk about their feelings, again without blaming anyone else for how they feel. I acknowledge that our tendency is to place blame, and I point out that this choice would put us back on the psycho path.

I ask students to review the Conditions for Success and reaffirm their commitment to them. This conversation may take some time. To continue to move forward, it's essential to restore trust. If an individual has made a mistake, or if feelings have been hurt, students need to acknowledge the damage done, seek forgiveness, and reaffirm their commitment to the Conditions for Success. If I get stuck here, I go on to another conversation: "What might be possible if we were to work through this problem together?" "What is possible when you adhere to the Conditions for Success?" This discussion shifts gears from reverse to forward.

We end by talking about how this problem allowed us to learn and grow. We identify the new behaviors and ways of thinking, listening and speaking that came through the process, and acknowledge one another for taking the scenic path.

The Outcome: Joy in Learning
Within every student is an indestructible kernel of enthusiasm for learning. By nurturing and maintaining strong, trusting relationships in the classroom, we can help those seeds bloom into joy as students discover who they are and how much they matter in the world.

Writer's Notebook Tips from Ralph Fletcher

Check out this link. Writer's notebook tips from one of my writing heroes.

The JOY of WRITING

Today I had a chance to share my writer's notebook with a couple of fifth grade classrooms. Thanks Wendy for allowing me to do that! It was so much FUN rereading some of my old notebook entries and my goofy stories that I wrote for a captive fourth grade audience (my old fourth grade class). What a blast of joy it was to share my love of writing with the kids! It's been six years since I've had my own captive audience, so I really cherish the moments I get to "teach." I really should write more in my paper notebook. This blog has become my writer's notebook. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my blog! I'm definitely going to try to write more in my "old school" notebook. Thank you Wendy and Kathy for encouraging and supporting young writers! I can't wait to read the kids' notebooks and the stories that come from them. I WANT to see the kids carrying their notebooks around school again. Lets make that a goal! Remember...YES, WE CAN!

Too Funny!!

Milestone?

Ok...two weeks down! I'd have to say this has been a pretty good start of the school year. Don't get me wrong, we've definitely been busy...but it hasn't been pulling the hair out crazy. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the hair-pulling craziness stays away!



I think I've reached a milestone, but I'm not sure. I've surpassed the 1000 sick hours mark. Actually, I have about 1009 sick hours. I think that's good. Or maybe not. I was trying to calculate how many sick days I've taken during the last 16 years. It averages out to about 2 per year. Not bad. If I continue this pattern, by the time I retire I'll have a whole year of sick time...and...I can retire a year early. Nice. Now watch, I'm gonna get sick. Just my luck.

"Do you work here?"

We have 175 days left. A lot of great teaching and learning have been packed into the five days that have passed! Nice! No retentions! 10% ELA! 44 API! Yes, we can!

Nothing really funny or interesting has happened so far. Oh wait, something sort of funny happened last week. I was walking toward the kindergarten building when a parent asked me "Do you work here?" I immediately said, in a jovial tone, "Why yes I do! How may I help you?" Just kidding...I paused...and then said "yes." She wanted to know where the YMCA office was. I was pleasant. Maybe I should wear a vest like they do at Walmart. The back of the vest can read "I work here. How may I help you?" I think I'll make the office staff and Darryl wear vests too. In fact, maybe eveyone should wear one. Hmmm, wonder if I can use Reading First money to pay for them????

In the L.A. Times

The L.A. Times online has a section that profiles area schools. A Whittier parent wrote a very nice comment about Whittier. Check it out.

Yes, We Can.

One week down...

One week down and lots more to go. It was a pretty good week. A couple minor discipline issues. A couple parent issues. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if things were calm. It was so nice to see all the kids back, excited about learning. They're so cute. I'm very excited about the year ahead. Don't get me wrong, there will be plenty of challenges. There will also be plenty of opportunities for celebration. We are so close to 800, I can taste it. We ALSO need to get 10% growth in ELA to stay out of Program Improvement. We can do it. Yes, we can!

Voting for a Book

An elementary school in Denver is teaching the electoral process by having kids vote for their favorite book. What a great idea! We should do this! The story was on NPR today. Check it out.

A New Year!

It's a new year. Year 5! Wow, time sure does fly. It's going to be a great year! I hope I can get everything ready by Tuesday.